Parliamentary Secretary Prabmeet Sarkaria
The province is once again pushing the federal government to tighten our borders even further.
Last month, all flights from Pakistan and India were cancelled for at least a month.
Parliamentary Secretary Prabmeet Sarkaria says travellers are still getting through.
“More than 5,000 passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 since February. The premier and this government have constantly been asking for the federal government to secure our borders and keep Ontarians safe.”
Sarkaria says Ontario has done its part by securing land boundaries in Manitoba and Quebec.
However, he says international travellers are flying to the United States to avoid quarantining and crossing, even walking, across our federal borders.
In a letter to the prime minister, premier Doug Ford says 35 international and 23 domestic flights from outside of Ontario had COVID-19 positive passengers.
Ford says he continues to call for immediate action on our borders, but so far, he’s received no response.
Canada’s Health Minister counters by saying the country has very strict international travel protocols in place.
Patty Hajdu points out Canadians still have a constitutional right to travel, and anyone doing so for non-essential reasons face rigorous health standards.
“They have to get a test before they leave the country of origin. If they are transiting through the U.S., they have to get a test in the US. They have to test upon arrival. They have to quarantine for 14 days. If they are arriving by air, they stay 3 days in a hotel, they’re tested on day 8.”
The Thunder Bay-Superior North MP adds travel is not the main spreader of COVID-19, it’s community transmission.
The federal government says thousands of dollars in fines against two people were laid Thursday after two groups gave false COVID-19 health information.
One must pay $2,500 after coming back from the Dominican Republic in February, while the other coughs up $6,500 after landing in Toronto from the U.S. on April 3.
It’s a completely different tone south of the border
The top member of the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, has written a letter to members of the Biden administration making several demands regarding the border.
One is a detailed Canada-U.S. plan, released as soon as possible, explaining what rules and health-related benchmarks will guide the return to non-essential travel.
And in the interim, he immediately wants to see Canada and the U.S. allow more people to travel.
Schumer wants the definition of essential travellers expanded to include vaccinated people who have property, educational, medical, or business reasons for crossing the border.
(With Files from Tim Davidson and Geoff Waterfield)
